One way to make statements believable is to use authority. This can be an expert testimony or a reference to a highly credible source. Bram Stoker made wide use of this concept of authority in "Dracula." It is used as a means to make a fantastic tale seem credible.

Dracula is not a typical novel. Most novels are told in a narrative style by one voice that is usually that of the third-person omniscient narrator or a first-person narrator. But, "Dracula" is told by many different characters, frequently speaking to themselves in diaries and journals or speaking to each other through personal correspondence in the form of letters or telegrams.

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A glance at the chapter titles in the table of contents of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" shows that the authority is used in every chapter of the book. Every single chapter title contains a reference to a journal, a personal or professional diary, a personal letter or a newspaper "cutting." There is also a record recovered from the log of the ship, The Demeter. Each of these is an authoritative source.

Chronological records lend credence to the testimony of first hand witnesses to various events. Remarkably, Doctor Seward records his testimony into a phonograph recorder. Simultaneous records made by different characters showing the events leading up to the murders and curious happenings in the story also provide a foundation of credibility.

Before Jonathan Harker sets out on his journey to Transylvania, he goes the the British Museum and conducts some research on the country he is going to visit. Through the books and other resources that he finds there, the reader learns a number of interesting facts about the region and its people.

There are two characters that provide a major source of authority, both are doctors. Dr. Seward is the psychologist who studies Renfield, a mental patient, whose case, at first, seems unrelated to other events in the book. But, in his seeming mania there lies a psychic link with Dracula that is made credible throug Dr. Seward's careful record-keeping.

The most authoritative character by far is Dr. Van Helsing. a professor of medicine and practicing physician who is a first hand witness to events surrounding the attacks on Lucy. It is he who must convince the others that the cause of Lucy's bizarre illness and subsequent death is a vampire. It is Doctor Van Helsing's testimony that is most credible by virtue of his inherent believability as a doctor and teacher.

Through the use of authority, Bram Stoker "sells" his otherwise incredible story to his readership with remarkable effect. The foundation is laid so very firmly and entrenched in apparent truth, so that when Harker writes the first truly bizarre account in his journal - that he saw the count scale the outside of one of the castle walls "in his lizard fashion" - the reader finds it astonishing, yet credible.

It is the use of the authority of experts, expert witnesses and credible resources such as logs, newspapers and books and others that lends credibility and ultimately horror to the story. It makes up for what Bram Stoker's "Dracula" lacked, which is emotional power.

Reference:

Dracula, Bram Stoker, 1897. http://www.gutenberg.org

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